Pragatisheel Samaj Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Yadav lashed out at his nephew Akhilesh Yadav and termed him politically immature. The remark comes days after the Samajwadi Party sent a letter to Shivpal, telling him he was free to go wherever he thought he would get more respect. It was an apparent jibe at Shivpal’s growing proximity with the BJP.
Taking a swipe at his nephew and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday, Shivpal said: “His political immaturity led to the SP’s defeat in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.” It was Shivpal’s first reaction in the public after the SP’s letter.
The SP had also also issued the same letter to another ally, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar. “I came to know about the SP letter through the media. It is indicative of the political immaturity of Akhilesh Yadav and nothing else. It would have been better had I been expelled from the party,” Shivpal said.
“You have seen where the party was and where it has reached now. Had that maturity been there, the party would have formed the government in 2022 and Akhilesh would have been the chief minister,” Shivpal said.
“It would have been better had I been given ‘mukti’ (liberation) from the party. When such letters are being written to me, I am not invited to the legislature party meetings and my suggestions are not accepted, there would have been no heartburn if I was given ‘mukti’,” he added.
Shivpal had contested the recent state assembly elections on the SP ticket and won from his traditional Jaswant Nagar seat in Etawah.
In 2018, Shivpal had formed his party after he was marginalised in the SP by Akhilesh.
The fresh row erupted after Shivpal and Rajbhar supported the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, who defeated Yashwant Sinha, the Opposition nominee, also supported by the SP.
The ‘chacha-bhatija’ duo had patched up ahead of the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly polls at the behest of Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, the bonhomie between the two did not last long and they drifted apart after suffering a defeat at the hands of the BJP.
When asked about Rajbhar, Shivpal said, “I have not yet had any talks in this regard though I have had a courtesy meeting with him.”
Shivpal, however, appeared soft on senior SP leader Azam Khan, saying, “I will stand by him, whenever required.”
The relationship between Khan, the Muslim face of the SP since the days of Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Akhilesh also hit a rough patch since the assembly elections.